Chemical-pump controller for water-softening apparatus.



C. L. KENNJCOTT.

CHEMICAL PUMP CONTROLLER FOR WATER SOFTENING APPARATUS. APPLICATIONFI'LED 050.9. 1915.

5:1 Patented. Mar. 21,1916.

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c. L. KENNIC'OTT.

.CHEMICAL PUMP CONTROLLER FOR WATER SOFTENING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION men 02c. 9. 1 915.

1,175,368. I Patented Mar. 21,1916.

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C. L. KENNICOTT. .CHEMICAL PUMP CONTROLLER FOR WATER sonsmwe APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 9, IBIS. 36, t Patented am 21, 1916.

. 2 SHEETSSHEET 2- grammatic, of a water-treating plant ems anddescribed w re snares PATENT ornion CASQ. L. KENNICOTT, OF CHICAGOHEIGHTS, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE KENNICOTT COMPANY, OF CHICAGO,ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

CHEMICAL-PUMP CONTROLLER FOR WATER-SOFTENING APPARATUS.

icence,

Specification of Letters Patent.

" I Application filed December 9,1915 Serial m. 66,010.

below the normal water, level in the treating reservoir, and in whicha'pump is employed for lifting the fluid chemicals or container to the.

chemical solution from the treatmg reservoir.

More particularly, the inventionrelates to that type of water-softeningapparatus in which chemicals flow to the pump from a chemical sumpwhich, in turn, receives the chemicals from a regulating tank, or

other controlled supply, which may at times supply liquid to the sumpless rapidly than it is removed by the pump;

It is the object of my invention to'provide; a means by which, under.theT-above iiamed' conditions of operation, "thapumpf may be preventedfrom emptying'the'sump, and. which will accomplish this resultwithout-:-. interfering with the continuous. operation of the pump, orsupplying liquid tothe sump from any source other thanthechemical-supply means.

The foregoing objects are accomplished by the construction andcombination of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings in thespecification annexed hereto.

vation, partly in sectlon *and partly di bodying my invention; Fig. 2 isa view of the lower portion of the apparatus shownfl'; in Fig. 1, thepump of Fig. 2*be1ng'a centrifugal pump having another means for:

controlling its operation ;j Fig. 3 is a; similar view of a stillfurther modification of the apparatus, and Fig. 1 is an-enlarged vertical section showing a form of balanced valve adaptable for use with mypump controller.

Referring more particularly to the drawoutlet 22;

re 1 afront ing, the numeral 10 designates the main treating reservoirof my apparatus, above Patented Mar, 21, 1916.

which ismounted a dividing box 11 to p which the raw water is suppliedas by a'pipe 12 controlled by a float valve 13, the float of which ridesupon the surface of the liq 111d 1n the dividing box. In the box 11 theraw water is divided into two streams, a

the waterpasses downwardly through a flaring conduit 17, known-as a'downtake, in

which it is designed that the raw water and chemicals shall thoroughlyintermingle and react to cause a precipitation of the objectionablematerials of the water." A conical bottom 18, below the downtake 17,serves to collect this precipitate and to permit it to be drawn 01f fromtime to time, as by a sludge pipe 19 which empties: into a sludge sump20; The treated water, rises through the "annular space surrounding thedowntake conduit 17 and after passing through a filter-bed .Zl may bedrawn ed as by the It is the function of the relatively-small pipe 15leading from the dividing box 11 to actuate a means by which the flow ofchemicals is accurately regulated in proportion "to the flow of rawwater. This is accomplished by a regulating tank 23 into which the pipe"15 discharges and within which there is mounted aprogressively-risingfloat 24 which"- is :connected by a cable 25 tma lift-pipe'26 pivotedfor movement ins vertical planewithin the chemical tank 2t; Thechemicals entering the upper end nf-the lift-pipe pass therethrough andare discharged by a-spout 28 connected with the lift-pipe into achemical sump 29; From the bottom-ofthis sump the regulatedchemicals'are' withdrawn as by a pump 30 which i is preferablyconstantly driven, as will later appear, and are discharged from thepump through a pipe 31 onto the top of the mixing-plate 16, there mixingwith the entering pipel lgthere is a mixing-plate'ldupon wwhich'theerawwater impinges-to be there mixed with theinflowingjb m as Will i elaterappean. Below,"themiking-plate 16 raw water which is discharged from theout-- let 14.

It will readily be observed that if the flow of raw water should be cutoil or reduced below a certain definite point, the regulating float 24would maintain this pipe 26 stationary, or lower it so slowly that theconstantly-operating pump 30 would empty the chemical sump 29 and beginto pump air. To prevent this condition of afi'airs from occurring, thereis provided a by-pass pipe 32 connected to the discharge line 31 of thepump 30 and having its outlet end adapted to discharge, into the sump29.

Within this outlet end there is mounted a balanced valve 33 which, asshown in Fig. 4, may be of the simple butterfly or pivoted damper type,this valve being controlled by a float 34 which rides upon the surfaceof the liquid within the sump. When, there-- fore, the pump, 30 tends towithdraw the chemical from the sump faster than it is supplied by theregulating means, the falling liquid level within the sump operatesthrough the float 34 to open the bypass valve 33, whereby the pump actsmerely to circulate the liquid from the sump and back.

to the same again. The pump 30 may, therefore, be operated constantlyand at a speed suflicient to take care of the maximum chemical feed, andwill nevertheless be kept con:

-stantly primed when the chemical feed is small or has ceasedaltogether.

For constantly driving the pump 30, I

have shown a crank-shaft 35, which is the i be desired.

In Fig. 2 I have shown a modified arrangement of the parts in which thepump, designated 40, is, of the centrifugal type, being driven by mitergears from the shaft 35, as by a shaft 41. In this form of the inventionthe float 34 is carried by an angular arm 42 which operates a valve 43directly in the outlet pipe 44 of the centrifugal pump. It is,of'course, well understood that in this form of pump the outlet may beclosed without injury to the apparatus, the only result being that thewater within the pump is churned and may tend to become slightly heatedin time." In the apparatus shown in Fig. 2 it will be seen withoutfurther explanation that when the level of chemicals within the sumpfalls, the float 34 will drop and by cutting off the outlet from thepump will prevent further emptying of the sump. I

In Fig. 3 a chemical sump 45 somewhat supply pipe 50 similar in functionto the plpe 38 is shown in Fig. 3 in position to discharge into thechemical sump.

While I have shown and described in considerable detail some specificembodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that vention moreclear and that I do not regard the invention as limited to thesedetails, nor any of them, except in so far as I have included suchlimitations within the terms of the following claims, in which it is myintention to claim all novelty inherent in my invention as broadly as ispossible in view of the prior art.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

- 1. In a water-softening apparatus and in combination, a raw-watersupply-means, a chemical sump, means for feeding chemicals this showingand description is illustrative only and for the purpose of making myinto the sump in varying amounts, a continuouslyoperating pump forwithdrawing chemicals from the sump and supplying them tothe raw water,and a valve operable by change of level of the chemical in the sump forcontrolling the supply of chemical pumped to the raw water.

2. In a water-softening apparatus and in combination, a raw-watersupply-means, a chemical sump, means for feeding chemicals to the sumpin regulated amounts, a continuously-operating pump for withdrawingchemicals from the sump and supplying them to the raw water, and a valvelocated on the discharge side of the said pump and operable by change oflevel of the chemical in the sump for controlling the supply ofchemicals pumped to the raw water.

3. In a water-softening apparatus and in combination, a raw-watersupply-means, a chemical sump, means for feeding chemicals to the sumpin proportion to the supply of raw water, a continuously-operating pumpfor withdrawing chemical from the sump and supplying it to the rawwater, a by-pass conduit extending from the discharge side of the said.pump to the said sump, a valve for controllingthe said conduit, andmeans for operating the said valve by change of level of the chemical inthe sump.

4. In a water-softening apparatus and in combination, a treatingreservoir, a rawwater supply-means entering the upper portion of thesaid reservoir, a chemical sump located below the said raw-watersupplymeans, means for feeding chemicals to the sump in proportion tothe feed of raw water, a continuously-operating pump for withdrawingchemical from the sump and supplying it to the upper portion of the saidtreating reservoir, a lay-pass conduit communioating with the dischargeside of the pump and opening into the said sump, a valve for controllingthe said by-pass, and a float riding upon the surface of the liquidWithin the said sump and having operative connections with the saidvalve to open the latter as the liquid level within the sump falls.

CASS L. KENNICOTT. In presence of- PAUL HJKAPP, HARLEY G. ALGER.

